Edward Diggs to make replica of MMF deck boat

Longtime master boat builder Edward Diggs, right, of Mathews, will be making a model replica of the Peggy of New Point. Restoration of the vessel is underway at the Mathews Maritime Foundation’s Gwynn’s Island Boat Shop and is expected to be completed by the summer. Above, Diggs is shown with George Pongonis, MMF board member in charge of the Peggy restoration project. Photo by Quinton Sheppard.

The latest progress made on the vessel Peggy, including its completed deck framing. MMF photo

With work scheduled to be completed this summer on the Peggy of New Point, local longtime master boat builder Edward Diggs has offered to make a model replica of the deck boat.

Meanwhile, Lloydette Diggs has created a commemorative booklet showing photos of the surprise reception that the Mathews Maritime Foundation held for her father-in-law on Oct. 16, when every model he had built was displayed at the MMF Museum.

Built in 1925, the Peggy was designed especially for Walter Burroughs and his brother-in-law Raymond Hudgins, who were pound net fishermen out of New Point. The vessel was later owned by Edward Grinnell of New Point until she was sold in 2001 to Kim and Gretchen Granbery, who converted her for pleasure cruising.

In the spring of 2008, the Granbery family donated the Peggy to the Mathews Maritime Foundation so she could come back home and be returned to her pound net fishing configuration.